triple chocolate mess

January 7, 2010 – 9:04 pm

I made this for the girls when they were home for the holidays. It’s a favorite. When I take it to a church dinner, I take a bucket of vanilla ice cream to serve with it. So moist and delicious! I first had this dessert when my home extension group went to The Chocolate Affair, a gourmet chocolate shop / bed & breakfast for an evening tour. They served this. Soooo good!

Wish I’d taken a better picture of it with some ice cream, but we were too busy eating it to take pictures…got this one later.

Triple Chocolate Mess

Triple Chocolate Mess

Triple Chocolate Mess

1 (18 1/2 ounce) package chocolate cake mix
1 (4 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
3/4 cup oil
1 cup water
4 eggs
1 (6 ounce) bag chocolate chips
1 pint sour cream

Spray crock pot with non-stick spray.
Mix all ingredients (by hand is fine) and place in crock pot.
Cook on LOW for 5-6 hours.
Try not to lift the lid.
Serve with ice cream.

Try it. You’ll like it! 🙂 ~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in cooking, Recipes | Tagged , , , | Comments (5)

favorite photos from 2009

January 5, 2010 – 4:48 pm

January ~ We went to Florida. Wonderful to “get away” for a while. I especially like this picture of DH and DD, walking back from the water.

sunset

February ~ Valentine tulips.

twolips

March ~ Spring!

redbuds along the driveway

April ~ Had to pick two this month.

peek! Look, mama! I'm a flower!

May ~ We had a lot of rain in May.

had LOTS of rain

June ~ I love this picture of the daisies in our garden, with the colors of daylilies behind them.

Shasta daisies

July ~ The grands came back for a visit.

Grandma said we could pick all the flowers we wanted

August ~ Elderberries

elderberry

September ~ Love the color and the reflections in this picture.

love the reflections

October ~ Went east to visit the grands.

three at a time!

November ~ Waning days of the garden.

waning days of the garden

December ~ He actually said, “I’ve come to love wrapping.”

last of the wrapping

There was time to make it beautiful…

bubble light tree

Time for peacefulness…

guest bedroom

Time for fun and family…

happy birthday, Grandpa!

Time for friends and joyful celebration…

house concert

A great month of December and a very good 2009. May God bless your New Year with His goodness and grace. ~~Rhonda

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menu plan monday ~ january 4, 2010

January 4, 2010 – 1:21 am

After a house full of company and multiple parties, we are finally getting back to a regular schedule. Our little duet and their family went home Saturday.

our little duet

Our older girls are leaving for their home today and our youngest daughter is back to school, so the house is quiet and I’m taking it easy today. And I’m thinking…easy meals all week would not be a bad idea!

Monday
I have ham left from company meals, so perused some food blogs for recipes that might use up the ham. I came across this one. DH doesn’t like macaroni, which a lot of the recipes called for, and this one incorporates potatoes. DD loves corn, so we’ll see how this goes over. I’ll be substituting some dry onion flakes for the green onion, as DH is allergic to fresh onions. I’ll let you know what we think.
hearty ham casserole

Tuesday
taco salad

Wednesday
baked penne and chicken
corn
sugar snap peas
green salad

Thursday
homemade pizza

Friday
cheesy potato sausage soup
rosemary crackers

Saturday
fridge food

Sunday
baked spaghetti
garlic bread
green salad

You’ll find more menus and recipes at Menu Plan Monday.

~~Rhonda

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happy birthday, grandpa!

December 29, 2009 – 10:37 am

Gary and Laurie gave DH a balloon bouquet for his birthday. Or were they really for the twins?? I wish you could have seen the twins’ faces when he walked in with them!

Grandpa's birthday balloons

gimme! gimme!

Grandpa's birthday balloons

Much laughing and squealing with delight!

Grandpa's birthday balloons!

Grandpa's birthday balloons

After they had them for a few minutes, they found out they could run with the balloons.

happy birthday, Grandpa!

mmmm...MY balloons??

Static girl…

static girl

The twin in the dotted jams was much more adventurous. She liked the entire bunch. The twin in the stripes was very happy with just one. The entire bundle was a bit overwhelming after a while.

Grandpa's birthday balloons

Needless to say, they had a ball with the balloons! ~~Grandma 🙂

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menu plan monday ~ december 28, 2009

December 28, 2009 – 12:20 pm

The last of the Christmas Mice met a delightful end.

eating Grandma's Christmas Mice

We have some family visiting through Saturday, and some through the fourth, a birthday, plus two Christmas parties thrown into the mix, so the menu reflects some easy meals, some party food, and some special requests. 🙂

Monday Happy birthday, Honey…here’s your favorite!
marinated pork tenderloin
mashed potatoes
green beans with mushroom sauce
corn
homemade rolls with homemade apple butter
pear/walnut salad
red cake
homemade strawberry ice cream
homemade chocolate ice cream

Tuesday
tacos and our Sunday School first-Tuesday-after-Christmas Christmas party
spicy cranberry meatballs [I make my own meatballs for this recipe.]
meat and cheese picks

Wednesday
chicken and noodles

Thursday
fried chicken
mashed potatoes
corn
sugar snap peas
spinach salad

Friday
pulled pork / homemade buns
[I follow the pork recipe’s ingredient list, but I don’t blend them. I put the roast in the crock pot and throw everything in on top. I know it’s not the same as roasting it, so it’s different than the meat the original recipe would produce, but it’s still delicious! And easier. 🙂 ]
chips
grapes

Saturday
fridge food for lunch and then my side of the family’s Christmas party
three cheese spread / crackers
Christmas cookies [I stored an assortment in the freezer for this party.]

Sunday
spaghetti / homemade sauce
rosemary bread
peas
corn
green salad

You’ll find more menu and recipe ideas at Menu Plan Monday.

~~Rhonda

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Christmas day

December 27, 2009 – 4:33 pm

Christmas morning, we were up around 7:00. Breakfast first! Or perhaps I should say “first breakfast.” The twins had some fruit in the kitchen, then joined everyone about an hour later for breakfast casserole and apple dumplings before opening presents.

breakfast!

Once we were all gathered in the living room, it was time to hear the account of the first Christmas, from Luke 2:1-20.

reading the first Christmas account

Buttercup found a safe place under the tree where she could watch the grands run without being run over!

twin 2 and Buttercup

twin 1

The staircase was FULL of stockings, and stocking-stuffers overflowed onto the steps.

a staircase full of stockings

Someone wanted to investigate…

may I go upstairs? No!

stocking time

stockings

They found yummy chocolate in their stockings!

yummy stocking stuffers

mmmm! chocolate!

Lots of presents!

she loved the tree

After stockings and before presents, we stopped for a quick picture of our three daughters and three granddaughters.

three daughters, three grands
…daughter, grand, daughter, grand, grand, daughter…

Converse tennies! Just what she wanted!

Converse tennies

In a People House…her grandpa knows this story by heart, after years of reading it to our own children.

"In a People House"

She loves her Fedora.

fedora

Fun, fun, fun!

flinging tissue paper wrapping

kitchen set

hi, Grandpa!

She had more fun with the tangerines than any of the toys she received.

next year, they're getting tangerines for Christmas

And, of course, the boxes were a big hit.

kid-in-a-box

Even with the cats.

Zak-in-a-box same box, different cat

A wonderful morning! Later in the day, DS#2 and his wife came and we had more presents that evening. 🙂

stockings on Christmas Eve

My daughter-in-law felted this beautiful little mouse for me, and he is holding his own little Putz house! How cute is that?!

Christmas mouse with a Putz house

~~Rhonda

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Christmas eve

December 26, 2009 – 1:24 pm

We had a quiet Christmas Eve as we waited for DS#1’s family to arrive that evening. We wrapped the last of the gifts at the dining room table.

last of the wrapping

I made a few more Christmas Mice for the plates at the Christmas dinner, and I made chocolate covered cherries for DH.

a few more Christmas Mice

When the grands arrived, we took some time to get reacquainted. That didn’t take long. 🙂

playtime with Grandpa

hi, Grandpa!

We had our usual Christmas Eve tradition of opening Christmas jams and one other present.

the grands are here!

Then it was bath time. Grandma’s big sink comes in handy.

Grandma's hot tub

After the twins snuggled down for bed, the rest of us watched “A Muppet Christmas Carol.” Another Christmas Eve tradition. 🙂

watching "Muppet Christmas Carol"

Then it was time for bed, dreams and waiting…one more sleep till Christmas. ~~Rhonda

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just one more sleep till Christmas!

December 25, 2009 – 12:06 am

living room tree

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two more sleeps till Christmas…

December 23, 2009 – 10:14 pm

bubble light tree

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appetizer wreath

December 22, 2009 – 5:37 am

appetizer wreath

This appetizer wreath was easy to make ahead. I changed a few things. Their version served 16. Mine will make 28 or more servings.

My version:

3 tubes (8 oz. each) refrigerated crescent rolls
16 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons dill weed
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons dried onion flakes
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups chopped fresh broccoli florets
1 1/2 cup finely chopped celery
3/4 cup finely chopped sweet red pepper ~ Reserve enough of the red pepper to create a bow for the wreath. I made the bow first and diced the remaining pepper for the wreath.

I’m guessing on the amount of broccoli, celery and diced red pepper. I just diced and sprinkled it on until it looked full enough.

Remove crescent dough from packaging, but do not unroll it. Cut each tube into ten [rather than eight] slices. Arrange in a circle on an ungreased 16-in. pizza pan. I lined my pan with parchment paper. Arrange the remaining crescent rolls in a smaller circle just inside the first one.

Bake at 375° for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing to a serving platter; cool completely.

In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, sour cream, dill, garlic powder, dry onion, Worcestershire sauce and salt until smooth. Spread a little under the wreath to keep it from sliding off the platter. Spread mixture over the wreath; top with broccoli, celery and sweet red pepper. Create a bow with sweet red pepper to garnish the wreath. If I had had some cherry tomatoes handy, I would have dotted some of those on the wreath, as well.

Slice into 28 or more servings.

I’ll make this again. It was easy and so pretty! ~~Rhonda

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